Jury brings common sense to trials: A-G

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith has backed the retention of juries for criminal trials, saying the common sense they bring to court hearings should not be underestimated.

Mr Smith was responding to calls by Justice Peter McClellan for a court review of the jury process in NSW.

During a speech at the University of NSW law faculty on Tuesday, the judge suggested juries should be dumped from criminal trials as forensic and medical evidence gets more complicated.

Instead, Justice McClellan suggested one or two assessors could sit alongside a judge, or a panel of judges could preside over the case as is currently the system at appeal level.

Mr Smith told Macquarie Radio he was open to discussion on the issue, describing Justice McClellan as "a very smart and wise and experienced judge".

But he said he would personally support the retention of jury trials for most matters.

"I don't think there's been that many cases where the jury has been found to be wrong," Mr Smith said.

"The common sense of the community shouldn't be underestimated. (And) experts can get it quite wrong as we have seen.

"A jury of 12 people brings the common sense of experience and life to it that I don't think experts and judges do as well."

Judges were to some extent "sheltered", Mr Smith added.

"I have great time for judges who sit and do trials alone, but I don't think it's time to replace juries."

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said a strong argument would have to be presented before jury trials in criminal cases were abolished.

"I'd need convincing before we abolished juries in NSW, I think it is one of our long held rights, one of those long held democratic tenets that we've all signed up to," Mr O'Farrell told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think cabinet would have to have a huge weight of evidence before we gave away jury trials.

He said it would be no good replacing one system with another that had its own particular problems.

"I notice that where trials aren't always conducted by juries that there seems to be an increasing delay in getting decisions handed down," he added.

"I don't want to replace a system... with another system that's going to be even less perfect."